Hello. I am planning my first trip to Spain. I am trying to decide if I should stay in a hostel. I have heard good arguments on both sides of this issue. I would like to stay at a place where I do not have to worry about my safety, but I do not want to spend a lot of money. Does anybody have any suggestions. I plan on staying in Madrid, Toledo, Seville and Granada. Also, should I go to Salamanca?
R.G.
Maybe a few more details would be helpful. Are you traveling alone? How old are you? Do you feel comfortable sleeping in a room with strangers? How much money is "a lot" of money?
That might help us make some recommendations. :)
There are hostels and there are hostels.
Some hostels are very clean, relatively quiet, budget accomodations for people who want decent low cost place to stay. Often they have strict curfew and lights out rules. I am happy to stay at these.
Other hostels are like frat houses. They are party palaces that are loud, often dirty, havens for significant alcohol and drug use. These are prone to petty theft of anything that's not tied down. Although I don't hear many complaints about personal safety, I avoid these.
Many cities have at least one of each kind.
If you look at chat room discussions of different hostels, you will get an idea what type of place it is. If the discussion includes the word dude regularly, it's probably a party hostel. If you see words like clean and quiet regularly, it's probably the budget accomodation the partiers avoid.
You have to decide which one is right for you.
I stayed in a hostel in Rome, Italy, not Spain and I was pleased. It was very clean and had good breakfast.
You can read reviews on a few wen sites such as hostels.com hostelworld.com and others. If you do a search on google you will find them all.You can see pictures inside the rooms and more info, suck location, if they have lockers etc.
I also did this to get more information about a hostel in NYC: put in the google serach field the name of the hostel and reviews and this will bring up reviews from forums.I also would check tripadvisor.com
Brad gives excellent advice on how to locate the quieter hostels. Those that offer only large dorm rooms (some up to 16 beds) will probably be noisier than others. Many hostels now offer private or semi-private rooms, some with en-suite. These will cost more, but it's worth it to get a proper sleep. Check the ratings...if a hostel is rated "dull" for atmosphere, that probably means it's not much of a party place :) Another option might be "hostals," a class of family-run (usually) small hotels in Spain, a step up from hostels and just below a regular hotel. They usually offer fewer amenities (likely no restaurant or bar on site), but they are usually clean and inexpensive. If you have time, Salamanca is a great city to visit. But if you're limited on time and money, I'd do Segovia as a day trip from Madrid instead. Toledo, Sevilla, and Granada will give you a good feel for the Andalucian character of Spain.
If you want to spend a little more money (but still less than a hotel) with more privacy, you could try a pension. My travels have never taken me to Spain, but I'm sure this class of rooming must exists there.
If you're traveling with a partner, I've found that it's cheaper to stay at a cheap hotel in Spain than pay for 2 beds in a hostel. Most "Hostales" you'll find are private rooms anyway, not the usual dorm style hostels.
We stayed at a great place just off of Puerta del Sol in Madrid for about €25 Single, €35 Double. "Hostal Esparteros".
Sevilla we stayed at "Hostal Buen Dormir" in the center for €20 single, €35 double.
In Spain there is lodging called Hostales or in english Hostels, which are small privately owned hotels. They differ in the fact that they are not what we consider a hostel, that is a shared room, shared bath. They are normally a 2 star room with A/C, television, private bath They are a great bargain. A great website that is maintained by an American who lives in Madrid is www.madridman.com, he has an extensive list of hostales, hotels and hostels, has message boards, among many things. I highly recommend his site, and it's not just for Madrid but for all of Spain. The site lists and has links to over at least 50-60 hostales and hotels.
x2 on Barry's suggestion. Good info there. I'd stay in hostel, quite less than a hotel. I booked all my rooms thru www.hostelworld.com and made my decision by reading users reviews and what the hostel offered. I like my privacy so I had my own room and most of the time ensuite bathroom. I travelled thru southern Spain in the blazing summer and realized that having an ensuite bath and AC are a nice luxury.
Hello Rene,
You may find that taking a room in a convent or a monastery is to your liking... Here's a link for your consideration:-
http://www.reidsguides.com/t_h/t_h_convents.html
Vaya con Dios!... P.
